A/N: I'm finally done with Chapter Three! I've had a hard time editing it and sorry if it isn't as good as the previous chapters. I'm actually done with the fourth chapter but it needs major editing but hopefully I'll be able to post it by the end of the week.
Standard Disclaimer Applies Here
Chapter Three: An Unexpected Dinner Guest
A petite woman with violet-black pony tailed hair held out a long-sleeved white dress in front of her and placed it on a hanger. She took another dress from the rack, similar to it except for the color green. She frowned and observed that the hemline needed stitching. She was about to call her assistant Tsubame when she felt another presence in the room. She smirked and placed the dress back in the rack.
"I see that you're back Aoshi-kun."
"How did you know I was here? I was going to surprise you." Her friend grunted.
Kaoru giggled and turned around to face her long-time friend. "I've known you since I was four Aoshi-kun, how could I not feel you here?" she walked over to him and hugged him tightly. She frowned at him as soon as she released him.
"You never called me while you were there; I was going to ask you to bring something back to me."
Aoshi's face remained blank but she could sense that he was feeling a little uncomfortable with what she had said.
"Will dinner tomorrow night make up for it then?" he asked.
She nodded and smiled. "I suppose that will have to do then. Just tell me everything that happened, okay?" she turned back to the rack and began inspecting the other dresses that hanged there.
"I saw Kenshin in Singapore."
She turned back to him eagerly, her eyes now sparkling. "Really? How was he?"
Aoshi was now sitting on her brown leather couch at the other side of the room. He was staring at the wall in front of him, his eyes not meeting hers as he answered. "He just made a successful deal with a company to start a branch of his entertainment and sports magazine in Singapore."
Kaoru smiled brightly. "That's good. What else did he tell you?"
"He misses you."
Kaoru blushed. "He said that? How come he hasn't called on me…" she let one of the dresses go and took her ringing cell phone out from her pocket. "Moshi moshi, Kamiya Kaoru speaking. Kenshin? You're back?" she paused as she listened to Kenshin talk. "Dinner tomorrow? I'm actually having dinner with Aoshi-kun tomorrow; maybe you can come along. Hmm…alright, see you there!" she snapped the cover of cell phone close and smiled brightly Aoshi.
"I can't believe it! He called me already!" she raved.
Aoshi didn't smile. "So he is having dinner with us tomorrow?"
Kaoru nodded. "Yes, he can right? Please Aoshi, can we let him come?" she pleaded, pouting a little.
"Fine." He growled while Kaoru squealed in delight.
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Misao slammed her fists on the bank counter, her eyes blazing with fury.
"You mean Sanosuke doesn't work here anymore?"
The banker behind the counter nodded. "I'm afraid so Makimachi-san, he quit last week."
Misao bit her lip, making it bleed. So they've been planning this for quite some time now. First, they send me to a nightmare trip to Singapore, second they make off with all my things, what are they going to do next? Empty my bank account dry?
Suddenly, Misao's eyes widened and she turned to the banker sharply. "Excuse me, sir can you please check the balance in my bank account?"
The banker nodded and typed her name in the computer. A minute later, a printout appeared with Misao's balance. He read it and handed it to Misao.
"I'm sorry, Makimachi-san but it seems that your balance is zero." He informed, hitting Misao like a bomb with the news.
"So…are you saying…that I have…no money at all?" she asked him, trying to keep the emotions of frustration and shock out of her voice.
"Well…you have a few change left inside…" he was interrupted by Misao screaming her head off.
"FOX, ROOSTER, DAMN YOU BOTH!"
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Misao lay on the wooden floor of her empty and bare house, spent. She had walked for an hour to reach Sanosuke and Megumi's house from the bank to look for them only to find their house empty and abandoned. She even visited Sanosuke's father's house and was only ran out by his father screaming on how he disowned Sanosuke after he joined the rally group Sekihoutai. Megumi had no other living relatives so she didn't have any ideas on where she could find them.
"Argh, I can't believe them, where could have those two traitors run off?" she muttered and held her cell phone up. "And they won't answer their cell phones too! GRR!" she gripped and cell phone and was about to throw it against the wall when it started to ring.
"Eh? Who's this?" she asked herself as she looked at her cell phone screen seeing that the number was unregistered in her phonebook.
"Moshi, moshi. Hey who's this? It's you? Look, I can't…" she paused for a while as she listened to the person on the other line. "Fine, I'll meet you tomorrow afternoon."
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"Look, do you see him?"
"Yeah, I do. What's he doing here?"
"Perhaps he's meeting someone?"
"He looks so more handsome in real life than in television!"
"Excuse me, sir," a waitress walked over to Aoshi, blushing. "Here is your tea. I hope you like it sir." She placed the mug carefully on his table and took out a notepad and paper from her apron pocket. "Do you want to order anything else sir?"
He shook his head and the woman blushed even harder. "Umm, can I have your autograph then sir?" She asked and held out her notepad and pen.
"Aa," he answered and took the pen and signed the notepad. The waitress squealed and rushed to her co-workers, who were watching the both of them.
He sipped his tea and ignored the whispers and the giggles that surrounded him. He had worn his sunglasses this time to try to disguise himself but as he expected, it didn't work, but he didn't really care. He was slowly getting used to the attention and it didn't bother him like it used to when he first entered show business.
"Shinomori-san?" a high pitched and very familiar voice spoke from a warm body that appeared on his left side.
"Please sit down, Misao-san."
She sat down on the chair across from him and grumbled.
"Look, if you here to ask for the money I owe you, well I can't…"
"Misao-san." He interrupted her. "Let me ask you a question."
She blinked, looking confused. "Okay."
"When you love someone and lost that someone to someone or something, will you do anything to get that person back?"
"I don't know…maybe."
"But if you do get a chance to have that person back, will you take that chance?"
Misao was looking annoyed. "Listen, I don't know why you keep asking me this questions and I can't pay you yet." She stood up. "Till next time Shinomori-san."
"Wait." Aoshi stood up in front of her way. He towered over her, making Misao crane her neck just to look up at him. "I want you to have dinner with me tonight. I'll explain why later."
Misao's eyes widened and she nodded. Free dinner! "Fine, as long, as long as you don't bother me with those weird questions again." She walked ahead of him. "Come, it's almost six already."
"Dinner won't be until seven-thirty, I suggest that we go to a boutique first before we head for dinner. We need to get you something to wear."
Misao frowned and looked at the sweatshirt, jogging pants and the rubber shoes that she was wearing. "There's nothing wrong with my clothes!" she argued.
Aoshi ignored her and left some money on the table. "It's not proper for the restaurant we're eating at tonight. Just follow me to the car." Aoshi ordered. He moved past her and exited the restaurant leaving Misao glowering at his wake.
"Smug asshole." She muttered and followed him out.
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Misao wringed her hands uncomfortably as she followed Aoshi to the Shirobeko restaurant, while she wore the items that Aoshi had bought for her. She was wearing a purple sleeveless dress that reached up to her knees. Aoshi had also bought her a pair of purple beaded two-inched heeled sandals to match the dress that he had picked himself. The boutique that they visited was a little high-handed for her taste. The price of the dress made her wince and so did the sandals. She knew that they both would cost her a month's worth of groceries.
Wait a minute! Does that mean that I have to pay for them? Oh no! What if the dinner isn't free like I thought?
"Excuse me, Shinomori-san" she whispered behind him. "Do I…"
"Excuse me; we have a reservation for tonight under the name Shinomori." Aoshi had spoken to the woman waiting outside the restaurant, interrupting Misao.
The woman checked her clipboard and tilted her head towards the restaurant's entrance. "Please follow me inside." She led them to a round table covered with a white embroidered tablecloth with four wooden chairs with armrests surrounding the table.
The woman left and Aoshi held out a chair for Misao and sat beside her. She took notice of the other two empty chairs in the table.
"Shinomori-san," she whispered. "I think the woman gave us the wrong table. This is a table for four not two."
Aoshi opened the menu and handed another one to her. "She did not make a mistake."
Misao shrugged. "Fine, if you want to keep it that way then." She grumbled and took the menu and opened it. Her eyes widened as she saw the prices. "I think I'll just have rice for dinner. Plain rice; not fried rice because I love my rice plain." She proclaimed unenthusiastically.
Aoshi raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure? I'll be paying for everything if that's what you're worried about. I won't add it to your debt."
Misao's face brightened. "Really? So I'm not paying for the dress or the shoes too?"
"Aa,"
A wide grin appeared on her face. "Whew! I thought I was going to have to pay for that too!" she browsed the menu. "I'll have some fried rice and I think I'll have the shrimp tempura with it, or…fried fish." she scratched her head. "I don't know about seafood, maybe ramen would be nice but I'm so sick of noodles…"
"We'll order later when the others come." Aoshi said.
Misao tensed and almost dropped the menu. She stared at Aoshi. "The others? There are more people coming to dinner? Who? Some friends of yours that you brought here to make fun of me?" she fumed.
Aoshi sipped his water calmly. "No and please don't jump to conclusions that fast."
"Who is it then?" she hissed. "A lawyer so that you can force me to cough up some money to pay you? Like I said…"
"Misao-san," he interrupted. "I have no intention of doing any of the things you've accused me of." He cleared his throat. "I actually brought you here to discuss a matter of great importance to you." He cleared his throat again. "It's about Kenshin and I invited him to have dinner with me tonight."
A pair of blue-green eyes widened with fear at what he said. "You invited Kenshin! Why did you do that?"
"Well, you see Misao-san; I think Kenshin still loves you."
Misao's mouth dropped. "I think you're mistaken." She hissed. "Kenshin does not love me. I don't think he has ever loved me in the first place. Take me away from this place now!"
Aoshi almost smiled. "I'm sorry I cannot oblige to your request Misao-san for Kenshin has arrived with his date now."
Misao glared daggers at him and hid her head behind the menu. She felt steps approach their table and an audible greeting between Aoshi and Kenshin and the woman he brought alone whose name was Kaoru. She bent her head even lower and almost bumped her head on the table.
"Aoshi-kun," she heard the woman named Kaoru say, "Whom did you bring along with you?"
"This is my friend Makimachi Misao." She felt Aoshi nudge her foot as he sat down. There's no use, I have to show myself now. She brought her head up and forced herself to smile at Kenshin and the blue-eyed violet-black haired woman he brought with him. "Misao, this is Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru."
"It's nice to meet you Misao-san." Kaoru smiled and greeted at her. "Shall we order now?" she asked everyone else.
"Yes I believe we should." Kenshin said while Misao and Aoshi nodded their agreement.
"So Kenshin; how did business go in Singapore?" Kaoru asked, initiating a conversation with Kenshin after they had ordered.
"It went quite well and I even invited the owner of the publishing company to the anniversary party. How are your new designs going Kaoru-dono?"
Misao felt Aoshi nudge her foot. "Talk to him. Say something." He murmured to her while Kaoru and Kenshin continued their discussion.
Misao glared at him and kicked him, which almost made Aoshi flinch. He grimaced but he kept his expression blank and showed no sign of pain. He ignored her for several minutes until their order came. Misao glared at him and kicked him again. Aoshi made no move to show that he felt her kick, which pissed her off and gave him her hardest kick, which made Aoshi jump a little from his seat. Misao giggled and stuck her tongue out at him when Kenshin and Kaoru weren't looking.
Kenshin turned to Misao. "How are you Misao-dono? We met in Singapore, right?" he asked, making Aoshi give Misao a look of slight incredulity.
Misao nodded uncomfortably as she dipped her shrimp tempura in the sauce. "Yes we did." She replied, trying not to look at Aoshi. Shit, he might find out about the trick.
Kaoru started to look puzzled. "You mean you met her before tonight?"
Kenshin nodded. "Yes, I met her when Misao-dono was having a problem in getting a hotel room so I decided to help her out and I met her again before I left for Japan." He turned to Aoshi. "Did you meet Misao-dono in Singapore too Aoshi?"
Aoshi nodded and shot Misao a glance, the fury in eyes showing before he answered Kenshin's questions. "Aa."
"The shrimp tempura is delicious!" Misao remarked loudly, trying to change the subject. "Are you all enjoying your food?"
"The tempura is tasty. Don't you think so Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin commented
Kaoru smiled. "It's quite good," She agreed. "Even though nothing beats your special home-cooked food in my opinion."
Aoshi didn't say anything for the rest of the dinner, to Misao's relief even though she didn't feel very comfortable under the cold stare that he was giving her.
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Kaoru tiptoed and pecked Aoshi's left cheek. "Good night. Dinner was great." She nodded at Misao. "It was also nice meeting you Misao-san." She waved at them one last time and entered Kenshin's car.
Misao waved as the car left. "It was fun having dinner with you two!" she called out cheerfully. She turned around and met Aoshi behind her and smiled forcedly. Better do this fast Makimachi or you won't escape from his wrath. "Thanks for the dinner Shinomori-san, I think I'll be off now!" She spoke cheerful and turned quickly and tried to run as fast as she could without looking like she was running. Misao smirked. That was an easy esc…
"Ouch!" Misao yelped after Aoshi grabbed hold of her braid. She sent him a glare. "What did you do that for?" she tried yanking her braid out of his grip but he held it firmly.
"For tricking and using me." He voiced darkly. He pulled her closer through her braid, his hand still gripping it tightly.
"Fine!" she grumbled. "So you caught my little act then, if you'd just let my braid go maybe I'll explain why I had done those things to you!"
To her satisfaction, Aoshi relented and released her. He folded his arms across his chest and waited for her explanation.
"Look, I was in tight situation back then. Like I said, my only friends tricked me into thinking I won a raffle contest and I didn't have any money to pay the hotel and you wouldn't lend me money so I had to use drastic measures." She looked up at Aoshi to see if he forgave her and hurt her neck. Unfortunately for her, Aoshi didn't look impressed by her explanation. She sighed.
"I'm still going to pay you back if that's what you're worried about."
"You still used me and you took advantage of my trust." He stated tersely.
Misao glared at him and faced away to her right. "As if you didn't use me too." She muttered. "Ack!" she felt him grab hold of her braid again.
"What do you mean?" he asked her darkly.
She scoffed. "Come on, it's so obvious why you invited me to dinner. You wanted Kenshin and me to hook up so that you can make off with his girlfriend right?" she placed her hands on her waist and gave him a smug look when Aoshi didn't reply. "I suppose I'm right! Humph! What a hypocrite!" she stuck out her tongue at him.
Aoshi clenched his left fist and punched the wall beside him. Misao's eyes widened and she smirked at him.
"So you wanted to hit me? Come on hit me! Hit me, a woman!" she challenged and lifted her cheek up at him. "Wow, maybe my assumption earlier was wrong because up till now I didn't know you were gay!"
Aoshi's eyes flashed. "Shut up." He muttered.
"I will if you let go of my braid."
"What if I don't?" he asked, challenging her back.
Her smirk grew larger. "If you don't I'll tell the press that you're gay. I'll spread rumors on how you smacked a girl because you secretly desire her ex-boyfriend…a redhead man with an X-shaped scar and violet eyes!"
Aoshi, shocked, dropped her braid. "What?"
Misao sneered and tucked her braid inside her dress and grabbed the cloth. She smirked at Aoshi one last time. "Kecho giri!" she roared. Misao jumped and kicked Aoshi on his stomach, sending him to the wall, grimacing.
Misao laughed and blew him a kiss before she ran off. He's lucky that I'm wearing a dress or I would have targeted his head instead. "Till next time Shinomori-san!" she called and ran as fast as she can, thanking Kami-sama that she took fighting arts classes when she was younger.
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"No put the couch over to the right! The table is supposed to be positioned there."
Misao stood up and yawned when she heard the voices. Did she just hear someone else talking inside her house? She scrambled up from her sleeping position and rushed out to the second floor balcony and peeked down and saw groups of men carrying furniture inside her house.
"Excuse me!" she called out angrily. "What are you doing in here? Why are you bringing all these stuff inside my house?"
The men downstairs gave her funny looks that showed that they thought she was crazy. A middle-aged man who was carrying a clipboard gestured them to continue their work and looked up at Misao.
"I'm sorry Miss, but this house has already been bought by my client. It has been legally transferred to him and we have the papers to prove it."
"What? That can't be true! I never sold my house!" Misao argued and ran down the stairs to look at the papers on the clipboard. Her eyes widened. "What? Where did you get this? Who sold this house to you?"
The man tucked his clipboard under his arm and tried to remember. "If I do remember right, it was a couple. A woman with black hair and a man with spiky brown hair and was wearing a red bandanna."
Misao blinked when she suddenly remembered her conversation with Megumi before she left during the day they gave her the ticket.
"Oh, Misao-chan, since we'll be taking care of your house, we need to know where you keep the legal documents of the house just in case anything happens." Megumi had told her.
Misao had felt suspicious. "Why would you need that? I'll be gone only for four days, it's not like any situation where you'll need them would happen."
Megumi smiled a little nervously. "Who knows, anything could happen Misao. I also need something to say that you're giving Sano and me consent to hold your house just in case we need to do something that'll need your signature.
Misao narrowed her eyes then shrugged. "Well alright then, like you said, anything could happen."
Misao clenched her fists. "But they aren't the legal owners of the house! I'm the one who owns this house! They can't do this!"
The man shook his head. "I'm sorry Miss, this isn't our problem and according to the papers, this house now legally belongs to my client. I suggest that you report them to the police and live somewhere else for a while."
Misao bit her lip. She could report them to the authorities and get her house back, but… But they're having a baby already, what will happen to their baby if his or her parents keep running around being chased by the authorities?
Misao remembered the last time she visited the police station to report a thief who had snatched Megumi's purse. She had seen a mother convicted for selling drugs. The woman went into hysterics when the police officer took her baby away from her before she went to jail. I don't want that to happen to Megumi or her baby too. A child shouldn't be separated from her mother at such a young age.
"Excuse me Miss," the man's voice jolted her out from her deep thought. "I'm afraid that you have to leave now. My client is arriving this evening."
Misao sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll grab my things."
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It was already eight o'clock in Kyoto. The night was filled with the warm air of summer. The sky was shrouded in clouds, covering any of the few stars visible from the city. A few miles outside it, was a bus stop where a lone girl sat surrounded only by the few possessions that she had left.
Misao was leaning against the post of the bus stop, trying to stop herself from crying. I'm not going to cry. I'm going to find a way to solve this.
Misao now knew what it felt like to be friendless and homeless without anyone or anywhere to go to. She had no other living relatives and her only friends had betrayed her and were avoiding her.
She wondered who bought her house. Maybe they would be kind enough to let her spend the night. She grabbed her bags and walked to her house, which was only a few minutes walk away.
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Aoshi parked his white BMW in front of his new house, in a foul mood. The movie shooting that afternoon did not go very well. It turned out that Tomoe had a fight with the movie's director and refused to come to the set. The director had forced Aoshi along with Tomoe's agent to visit her at her home on the other side of the city to persuade her to shoot the movie. After an hour of really bad rush hour traffic, they finally reached Tomoe's house to find out from her neighbor that she left early that morning to go on a trip with her boyfriend, Akira.
Aoshi took out his shiny new silver house keys from his pocket. Hannya had told him that all of his furniture had been transferred and were arranged to his instructions. According to Hannya, there was a girl sleeping in his house earlier who claimed that the house belonged to her but fortunately, the problem was quickly solved and the girl agreed to leave to Aoshi's relief. He didn't want to have to bother with some female sleeping inside his house and demand that he give her house back.
So it was to Aoshi's surprise when he found a small figure leaning against the gate of his house, sleeping. The shadows covered her face and he could only see her lower denim-clad body, surrounded by two bags.
"Excuse me, Miss." He whispered and tapped the girl's shoulder. "Excuse me."
The girl grunted and turned her head around and she yawned and opened her eyes. "What time is it?" she mumbled then she sat up suddenly while her blue-green eyes widened when she saw Aoshi.
Aoshi almost dropped his keys when he recognized the girl's facial features.
"Misao-san?"
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A/N: Actually, I'm not sure if you can empty someone's bank account but Sano has connections with the bank and he might be able to that. I did a little research on real estate and tried to explain here on how they sold the house but I'm not sure if it's right. Anyway, here are my replies to the reviews!
Islaille: Thanks for liking the story and I've tried to explain how they sold the house here even if I'm not sure if it's right. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
Microburst#16: I like the way my fanfic made you laugh! Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Jazzy Uchiha: I'm glad that you and your best friend liked the fic.Well there'sthe update that you want! I hope it doesn't disappoint. Thanks for reading it!
legolasEstelstar: Thanks for liking the chapter! I guess I'll be keeping this title already, it's grown on me a little. Yeah, Sano and Megumi are really annoying here but Misao will find them soon.
smiley's chaos: Hi Gina! I'm glad that you found my fic funny! Thanks for reviewing!
sanzohakkaigal: Thanks for reading and reviewing this fic! I'm happy that you like it. There'schapter three! I hope you like it!
Alderine: Hey! I'm glad you found the fanfic funny! Yeah, the mucus was really disgusting. I'm not sure how different this is going to end up from the series but you should really check it out, it's so funny!